Celebrating the great Canadian game. Tracking the NHL, the Canadian teams and a lot more!

Friday, November 18, 2005

Red Wing road woes continue

The Red Wings will be excused if they have unkind words about their Western Canadian vacation. They put a wrap on their tour of the North West's Canadian franchises on Thursday night and the stats will show that the Wings were 0 and 3 in the Great White North West.

The latest setback was a wild affair in Edmonton, which saw the Wings drop a 6-5 decision to the Oilers. Detroit gave up a 3-1 lead as the Oilers battled their way back into the game only to surrender their own two goal lead late into the third period. Steve Yzerman scored at the 17.42 mark to send the game into Overtime.

The Oilers didn't wait long however, to put the thing away. Jarrett Stoll scored the winner with a power play goal after only 33 seconds of the Overtime period. A goal that gave Edmonton its 11th win of the season. It's a great way to start a stretch of games which will see six of the next eight played at the Rexall Centre.

For Detroit it's been a horrible trip to the West, with losses in Calgary and Vancouver previous to the stop in Edmonton, the Red Wings have seen their points bulge for first in the Western Conference lessen a bit. Outscored in the three games by a total of 13-6 and with the three consecutive losses, the Wings are now only five points ahead of Los Angeles and Nashville in the West standings.

Fortunately for Head Coach Mike Babcock and his team there is a tonic on the way. The Wings return home to the friendly confines of the Joe on Saturday night. And as if sent by the hockey Gods, their competition will be the 3 and 12 St. Louis Blues. With all that built up frustration on this Red Wing team ready to explode, one wouldn't want to be wearing a Blues uniform on Saturday night!